Heat, Humidity, and Other Compound Stressors as a Function of Climate Change and Land Use Type in GFDL's ESM 4.1

The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on 1.5 degrees C has shown that the Earth has warmed a degree and will continue to warm with a high probability of exceeding 1.5 degrees C in the coming decades. This global climate change crisis has led to questions of the social adaptability of humans, especially during the hottest months of the year. Many studies have been conducted to determine the near-term and long-term risks of high temperature exposure. The purpose of this project was to distinguish how different land use types influence local heat stress and draw connections between anthropogenic heat, humidity, and other stressors as well as their impact on human health. We used an Earth System Model (GFDL ESM 4.1) that contributed to the 6th Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). We focused our analysis on Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) and its relationship to the ability to conduct labor safely. We also explore the environmental drivers of air quality such as ozone and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as well as disease and their relationship to climate change. The findings from this project are expected to provide an idea of the limit to labor capacity in the future due to climate variability.